Needle-lubricating device.



J. B. HADAWAY.

NEEDLE LUBRIGATING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED 11193.20. 1906. 4 922, 9 I Patented May 25, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WWW-5555M W grit/v m jwizl 17% W UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN B. HADAWAY, OF BROOKTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MA-CHINERY COMPANY,- OF PATERSON, NEW J ERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

NEEDLE-LUBRIGATING DEVICE.

Application filed April 20, 1906.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN B. HADAWAY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Brockton, in the county of Plymouth and State ofMassachusetts, have invented cer tain new and useful Improvements inNeedle- Lubricating Devices; and I do hereby declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

The present invention relates to needle lubricating devices for waxthread sewing machines, and has for its objects, to provide a needlelubricating device which Will act in a certain and reliable manner toapply the de sired amount of lubricant to the needle, to provide aneedle lubricating device which will automatically adjust itself foroperation on needles of different sizes or to compensate for the wearingaway of the part by which the lubricant is applied, to provide a needlelubricating device which requires little, if any, attention on the partof the operator, to provide a needle lubricating device which can beapplied to a high speed sewing machine without interfering with theoperation of the machine or Without appreciably increasing the wear andstrain on any of the parts, to provide a needle lubricating device whichdoes not require to be supplied with lubricating material by theoperator except at long intervals, and in general to provide a needlelubricating device having its various parts constructed and arranged tooperate in an improved manner.

With the above object in view a feature of the present inventioncontemplates the provision, in a wax thread sewing machine, of a needlelubricating device movable into and out of engagement with the needle,and a separate reservoir for the lubricating material, supportedindependently of the lubricating device and arranged to keep thelubricating device supplied with the proper amount of lubricatingmaterial. By providing a separate reservoir for the lubricatingmaterial, the lubricating device can be'kept continually supplied withlubricating material so as to apply the same amount to the needle ateach operation, and thereby the action of the lubricating device madeuniform and any liability of either an excessive or an insufiicientamount of lubricant being applied to the needle avoided. The servicesSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 25, 1909.

Serial No. 312,773.

of the operator to supply the machine with lubricating material for theneedle are required only at long intervals. Also the movable lubricating-device can be comparatively small in size so as to be capableof a rapid movement without affecting the operation of the other partsof the machine.

Another feature of the invention contemplates yieldingly mounting thelubricating device so that it is allowed to yield when brought intoengagement with the needle whereby a sufficient pressure upon the needleis insured to cause the required amount of oil or other lubricant to bedeposited on the needle and the lubricating device can automaticallyadjust itself for needles of different sizes or to compensate for thewearing away of the parts of the lubricating device which contact withthe needle.

In addition to the features of invention above referred to, the presentinvention also consists in certain devices, combinations andarrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed, the advantagesof which will be obvious to those skilled in the art from the followingdescription.

The present invention is intended pri marily as an improvement on theneedle lubricating device disclosed in the patent to J. T. Rush, No.641,330, dated January 16, 1900, and is particularly adapted for use incurved hook needle shoe sewing machines of the class disclosed in thepatent to Z. T. French and WV. O. Meyer, No. 473,870, dated April 26,1892. It is to be understood however, that except as defined in theclaims the present invention is not limited to use in any particularform of wax thread sewing machine nor except where such limitation isstated in the claims, is the present invention limited to any specificconstruction or arrangement of parts.

The various features of the present invention will be clearly understoodfrom an inspection of the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is adetail view in side elevation of a portion of curved hook needle shoesewing machine with the preferred form of the invention applied thereto,so much only of the machine being illustrated as is necessary to showthe connection of the present invention therewith. Fig. 2 is a detailview in side elevation similar to Fig. 1 with the shuttle case and oilreservoir omitted and showing the parts in a different position, andFig. I der the force of the spring 15. The lubricat- 3 is a detail planview, partly in section, of ing device is thus yieldingly mounted so asthe needle lubricating device and the needle actuating lever upon whichit is mounted.

Referring to the drawings 1 indicates the curved hook needle, 2 theneedle segment, 3 the cap by which the needle is secured to the needlesegment, 4 the needle guide, 5 the stud upon which the needle segmentand needle guide are mounted, 6 the curved rack upon the hub of theneedle guide, 7 the pinion meshing with the rack 6 and actuating theneedle guide, and 8 the needle segment actuating lever provided withrack teeth meshing with rack teeth upon the needle segment, these partsbeing constructed and arranged to operate as in the machine of theFrench and Meyer patent above referred to.

The needle lubricating device comprises a hollow box 9 which is providedin one side with an opening through which a plug 10 of absorbentmaterial, preferably felt, projects, as indicated in Fig. 3. The box 9is adapted 1 to receive a small quantity of oil which is taken up by thefelt plug 10 and held thereby until it is applied to the needle. The box9 is moved so as to bring the projecting end of the plug 10 into thepath of movement of the needle during the backward stroke of the needleand to this end is carried upon the needle segment actuating lever 8,being mounted thereon so as to project beyond the front end of the levera sufficient distance to cause the plug 10 to contact with the needlewhen the lever is in its lowest position as indicated in Fig. 1. Themovements of the lubricating device toward and from the needle are thusproduced in substantially the same manner as in the constructiondisclosed in the patent to Rush above referred to. 111 the constructiondisclosed in the Rush patent however, the lubricating device is mountedrigidly upon the needle segment actuating lever, so that the pressure ofthe absorbent material of the lubricating device against the needlevaries as the absorbent material becomes worn away, and also varies withdifferent sizes of needles. In the illustrated embodiment of thepresentinvention the lubricating device is yieldingly mounted upon the needlesegment actuating lever, the shank 11 of the device being pivotallymounted upon a vertical stud 12 projecting from a block 13 secured tothe needle segment actuating lever and being provided at its rear endwith a projection 14 which is acted upon by a coil spring 15 seated. ina recess formed in a projection 16 from the block 13. The shank 11 ofthe lubricating device is also provided at its rear end with aprojection 17 arranged at right angles to the projection 14 andcooperating with the projection 16 on the block 13 to limit the swingingmovement of the lubricating device unto be capable of swinginglaterally, the swinging movement in either direction being limited bythe contact of the projections 14 and. 17 on the lubricating device withthe fixed projection 16. The lubricating device is held normally in theposition indicated in Fig. 1, in which position the projecting end ofthe plug 10 is in a vertical plane with the needle 1. By reason of theyielding connection between the lubricating device and the lever 8, thelubricating device is allowed to yield laterally as the plug 10 engagesthe needle and thus the plug is pressed against the needle withsufficient force to deposit the [required amount of oil upon theneez'lc.

The extent of the lateral movements permitted to the lubricating deviceis sufficient to enable the lubricating device to automaticallyaccommodate itself to'needles of different sizes and to exert therequired pressure upon the needle regardless of the wear ing away of theplug 10.

In accordance with a feature of the present invention the lubricatingdevice is supplied with oil from a reservoir supported independently ofthe lubricating device. In the illustrated embodiment of the inventionthe lubricating device consists of an oil cup of well-known constructionsupported in an arm projecting upwardly from the shuttle case 18 of themachine. This oil cup is indicated at 19, and since it is of well-knownconstruction, has not been illustrated in detail and need not bespecifically described; It may be said, however, that the cup comprisesa delivery tube 20 and that the flow of oil through the delivery tubemay be regulated by an adjusting nut 21 at the top of the cup. The oilcup is so located inthe machine that the delivery tube 20 is above andin vertical alinement with the hollow box 9 of the lubricating device,the lubricating device moving toward and from the delivery tube andbeing always in a position to receive any oil which drops from the lowerend of the tube. The flow of oil through the delivery tube 20 can be soregulated that practically all of the oil received in the box 9 of thelu- T in lubricating the needle is maintained uniform without anyattention on the part of the operator. Since the lubricating device isautomatically supplied with oil from a separate reservoir it can be madeof such a size as not to add appreciably to the weight of the needlesegment actuating lever and thus interfere with the operation of themachine when run at a high rate of speed or increase the wear or strainupon the operating parts.

The nature and scope of the present invention having been indicated andthe preferred form oi the invention having been specifically described,what is claimed is:

1. A wax thread sewing machine, having,

in combination, a needle, a needle lubricating device movable into andout oi engagement with the needle, and a reservoir for lubricatingmaterial supported independently of the lubricating device and arrangedto supply lubricating material thereto.

2. ii wax thread sewing machine, having, in combination, a needle, aneedle lubricating device movable into and out 01' engagement with theneedle, and means for yieldingly pressing the lubricating device againstthe needle while in engagement therewith.

3. it. wax thread sewing machine, having, in combination, a needle, areservoir for lubricating material provided with a delivery tube, and aneedle lubricating device movable toward and from the needle beneathsaid delivery tube.

4. ll wax thread sewing machine, having,

in combination, a curved hook needle, means [or oscillating the needle,a needle lubricating device carried by said means, and moved therebytoward and from the needle, and means for yieldingly pressing thelubricating device against the needle while in engagement therewith.

.5. I; wax thread sewing machine, having, in combination, a curved hookneedle, a needle lubricating device, movable toward and from the needlein the plane of the path oi movement 01' the needle, and. means foryieldingly pressing the lubricating device laterally against the needlewhile in engagement therewith.

6. Awax thread sewing machine, having, in combination, a curved hookneedle, a needle segment, a lever for actuating the segment, and alaterally yielding lubricating device mounted on the lever and movedthereby toward and from the needle in the plane of the path of movementof the needle.

7. A wax thread sewing machine, having, in combination, a curved hookneedle, a lubricating device movable in a vertical plane toward and fromthe needle, and a reservoir located above the lubricating devicesupported independently of the lubricating device and arranged todeliver lubricating material thereto.

8. A. wax thread sewing machine, having, in combination, a curved hookneedle, a needle segment, a lever for actuating the segment, a needlelubricating device mounted on the lever and moved thereby toward andfrom the needle, and a reservoir provided with a delivery tube arrangedto deliver lubricating material to the lubricating device.

9. A wax thread sewing machine, having, in combination, a needle, aneedle lubricating device movable toward and from the needle comprisinga hollow boX and absorbent material projecting therefrom, and means foryieldingly pressing the hollow box toward the needle while the absorbentmaterial is in contact with the needle.

In testimony whereof I afilX my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN B. HADA VAY.

Vr' itnesses HonAon VAN EvEnnN, FRED O. Fisn.

